SCOTTISH football has been stunned by the loss of the ex-SFA chief executive and says that while he was a talented administrator, he always had the best interests of the game at heart.

HE was the wide-eyed fan who got star struck by football’s biggest names – then ended up rubbing shoulders with them on a daily basis in UEFA’s corridors of power.

David Taylor, who passed away yesterday at the age of 60, rose through the ranks of the SFA right up to the highest echelons of European football’s governing body.

But former Scotland boss Craig Brown insists the former SFA chief executive was not some kind of powermonger intent on ruthlessly climbing the bureaucratic ladder.

He was just a good operator who started down the path to the top by simply asking for an autograph.

Brown said: “People used to ask me how David reached such prominent positions in football such as general secretary of UEFA and I’d tell them it was because he was an autograph hunter.

“Of course it was down to his ability to do the job but I remember when we were in Tokyo for the World Cup 2002 draw and he was like a big kid.

“It was amusing but it showed that although he was a smart guy, he was just a fan who loved his football.

“He asked me to get autographs for him of Guus Hiddink, Gerard Houllier and Aime Jacquet and those kind of guys. I knew a few of them but he saw Michel Platini and asked me to get him to sign something for his son.

“I didn’t know Platini so I told him just to go over and ask. Next thing I knew they were the best of pals.

“By the time the draw for the Euros came round they were close friends and David was on the path to the top.

“It is funny thinking back to Tokyo as all those years on David would be working every day with the biggest names in football. Platini was obviously impressed with David’s work at the SFA but I used to joke with him that he infiltrated the corridors of power because he asked for an autograph.”

As SFA chief executive, Taylor was in the firing line for eight years before joining the big leagues in 2007.

When Brown stepped down in 2001, it was Taylor’s job to appoint a successor. It went disastrously wrong with Berti Vogts but persuading Alex McLeish and then Walter Smith to take charge repaired a lot of the damage.

Brown said: “It’s a tough job at the SFA as you’re the pantomime villain. You are constantly in the firing line in the media and a fall guy with the fans.

“The SFA had a few big characters preceding him in Ernie Walker – who could stand up to the likes of Jock Stein and Alex Ferguson – and Jim Farry, who was also a strong personality. David was different. He was a lot quieter in going about his business.

“He was criticised about Berti but at the time it was seen as a real coup as he had a terrific CV. Alex and Walter then came in and you couldn’t fault those appointments.

“David then moved to UEFA and worked at the highest level. He certainly didn’t need to ask for autographs any more that’s for sure.”